At the beginning of September I had the occasion to visit the Brukenthal Palace which is located in Avrig, Sibiu county, Romania. The 250 year old palace once belonged to the Brukenthal Family and was built by Samuel von Brukenthal (1721 – 1803), the Habsburg governor of the Grand Principality of Transylvania between 6 July 1774 and 9 January 1787.
It may sound confusing for some, as Transylvania is part of Romania now, but it wasn't always the case, so let me quote a passage from Wikipedia so you understand the history of the region better.
The Principality of Transylvania, from 1765 the Grand Principality of Transylvania, was a realm of the Hungarian Crown and from 1804 an Austrian crownland ruled by the Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine monarchs of the Habsburg Monarchy (later Austrian Empire). During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian government proclaimed union with Transylvania in the April Laws of 1848 (after the Transylvanian Diet's confirmation on 30 May and the king's approval on 10 June that Transylvania again become an integral part of Hungary). After the failure of the revolution, the March Constitution of Austria decreed that the Principality of Transylvania be a separate crown land entirely independent of Hungary. In 1867, as a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, the principality was reunited with Hungary proper. source
Then in 1947 the Treaty of Paris rearranged the borders between Romania and Hungary, based on the Treaty of Trianon, so Northern Transylvania became part of Romania.
Why an exhibition of Saxon goods? Saxons were settled in Transylvania starting from the mid 12th century until mid-19th century. In some regions there are still a lot of Saxons, although the majority has left the country after the communism ended. However, you can't delete the from history (some have tried to though), so this exhibition has as purpose to show visitors how Saxons lived once and make sure they learn about their culture.
The exhibition was opened in 2016, displays around 1000 pieces collected in the last 30 years. The entrance s not free, you need to pay €2, €1 for kids and retired people but if you've paid the entrance fee at the gate, in that case you can visit the exhibition for free. I was very happy to visit the exhibition because I love these old things and you can't really see similar items in use anymore, except in museums or fairs.
The exhibition is set up at the ground floor of the palace. This is the entrance of the palace which as I said in my previous posts, is in a deplorable state.
Can't figure out the reason why this beautiful and important building has been neglected so much, but I truly hope it'll be restored very soon (the optimist of me!).
On the glass door of the entrance there was this illustration of a Saxon woman dressed in traditional clothes.
A glance at the first exhibition room, full of old paintings, furniture, clothes and tools. Unfortunately the rooms were very small, we had to be careful not to damage any goods and obviously taking good quality photos from the best angle was out of question.
Let's start with this handmade, hand carved and painted cupboard from 1863. If you look carefully at the top of the lower door it says ANNO and at the bottom you can spot out the numbers. Back in those days pretty much everything was made of wood and metal, furniture almost exclusively of wood but decorated, painted furniture like this only the wealthy could afford to have. The decorative elements used were mostly flowers and animals.
On the left side of the cupboard there was a candle holder made of some metal, as there was no electricity and petrol was invented only later.
Another cupboard, even nicer than the first one. This must have been a kitchen cabinet as there's the top shelf that was meant to store cups, mugs and plates as well. On the left side of it there were these metal plates, must have been insurance company advertisements.
Below the two cupboards there was this handmade and hand painted wooden bench, that dates back to 1861. In those days benches like this served a double purpose, there were used to sit on them and because the top could be lifted, served as a storage space, for clothes or anything else. This one was a quite simple one.
On the top of the bench these were four chests, very popular, used by many those days. The first one on the left is from 1928, has almost 100 years. The last one is even older, it's from 1864. These were used to store various items, sometimes valuables, like money, coins, jewellery, bonds, letters.
A wooden table with four wooden chairs, recreating the kitchen furniture of those days. Wooden plates, pots, spoons were used back then, and the straw bread basket in the middle of the table was again an item that everyone used.
This painting is featuring a religious moment of their life. Church leaders and nobles celebrating a special moment that was worth to capture. Unfortunately there wasn't any description to learn more about the painting. As photography was invented only later, painting was the only way of capturing moments of their life of portraying people for the next generations.
These were accessories of women clothes, belts, scarf pins, bracelets, made of precious metals, or just copper, depending on the social status of the person wearing them. Some could afford the most expensive ones, others could not afford any at all. I'm not an expert fut as I see these are made of copper and silver I believe.
The ribbons were hand embroidered, the jewellery was all done by hand as there were no factories, so imagine how much time needed to create some jewellery like that. Besides, it had to be perfect as if not, the commission was not paid.
This is the first part of the exhibition, stay tune for the next part, in which I'm going to show you more beautiful Saxon goods from the exhibition.
Check out my latest travel posts:
- Brukenthal Palace - The Medieval Exhibition
- Brukenthal Palace - Orangery And Garden
- The Clay Castle, Fairy Valley - Castelul de Lut, Valea Zânelor
- One Day At The Zoo - Part 5. - Food And The Surroundings
- One Day At The Zoo - Part 4. - Expectations vs Reality
- One Day At The Zoo - Part 3. - Education Matters
- One Day At The Zoo - Part 2.
- One Day At The Zoo - Part 1.
- The Medieval Fortress - Part 6.
- The Medieval Fortress - Part 5.
- The Medieval Fortress - Part 4.
- The Medieval Fortress - Part 3.
- The Medieval Fortress - Part 2.
- Haveyoubeenhere, Pinmapple And The Huge Potential We Have Here
- The Medieval Fortress - Part 1.
- The Medieval City - Part 3.
- The Medieval City - Part 2.
- The Medieval City - Part 1.
- The Blacksmith Workshop At The Dracula Daneș Domain
- The Park At Dracula Daneș Domain
- Horses And The Stable At Dracula Daneș Domain
- Horse Riding At Dracula Daneș Domain
- Carriage Museum At Dracula Daneș Domain
- Lunch At The Dracula Daneș Domain